1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal, and more particularly, to a camera device mounted to a portable terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
In general, portable terminal is a device for executing various functions while carried along by persons. For example, the portable terminal may be portable telephone, PDA, etc. Recently, such a portable terminal mounted with a camera has been come into the market.
FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a related art portable terminal having a camera. As shown in FIG. 1, all kinds of components including a main board are provided within the main body portion 1. On the front surface of the main body portion 1, a plurality of keys 3 such as number keys are provided below function keys to input various information.
On one end of the main body portion 1, a hinge unit 5 is provided. Through the hinge unit 5, a display portion 7 is rotatably connected to the main body portion 1. In the display portion, display screen 8 is provided in the surface corresponding to the front surface where the keys 3 are provided. A variety of information is displayed on the display screen.
The display portion 7 can be folded against the front surface of the main body portion 1 so that the display screen is adjacent the keys 3 or unfolded as shown in FIG. 1. According to the type of the hinge unit 5, not only the display portion 7 can be folded or unfolded against the main body portion 1, but the display portion also can be swiveled left and right relative to the front surface of the main body portion 1 in the unfolded position.
In one side of the main body portion 1, generally the side where the main body portion is connected to the display portion 7, a camera 10 is installed. The camera 10 has its sight line (shown by an arrow B in FIG. 2) fixed to face backward of the main body portion 1. Of course, the camera 10 is constituted to freely turn around an axis of its sight line for focusing with respect to the main body portion 1.
In the related art portable terminal described above, an image captured on the lens of the camera 10 is displayed on the display screen 8 of the display portion 7, which serves as a viewfinder. Accordingly, a user determines the composition of a picture while watching the display screen 8.
As described above, the related art portable terminal has various disadvantages. Since the user determines the composition of a picture while watching the display screen 8, the user places an object of the picture habitually on the extension line of an arrow of a direction orthogonal to the display screen 8. Accordingly, as shown in FIG. 2, the sight line of the camera 10 is parallel to the direction orthogonal to the surface of the display screen 8 when the display portion 7 is filly unfolded with respect to the main body portion 1. However, in the related art, when a user tries to take a picture in a state of the portable terminal where the display portion 7 is not fully unfolded, the sight line of the camera 10 and the direction orthogonal to the surface of the display screen 8 are not parallel to each other so that the user has difficulty in correctly displaying an object on the display screen. For example, where a display screen is configured to freely rotate with respect to a main body portion, it would be inconvenient for a user to move or rotate the camera in this way and in that way in order to correctly display an object on the display screen.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.